The Fixer, the Pecker, and Pecker
By 
Donald Trump appeared familiar with a deal that a Playboy model made to sell the rights to her story of an alleged affair with him when Trump discussed the matter in September 2016 with his attorney Michael Cohen, according to a transcript of their conversation.
The transcript, which was provided by President Trump’s legal team, shows that the then-GOP presidential nominee does not register confusion or surprise when Cohen refers to a plan to purchase the rights to model Karen McDougal’s story from American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer.
AMI, whose chief executive is David Pecker, had signed a $150,000 deal with McDougal in August 2016 for her story, but never published it.
“Um, I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” Cohen says, according to the transcript.
“So what do you got to pay for this . . . one-fifty . . .” Trump says.
“Yes,” Cohen replies. “Um, and it’s all the stuff.”
I mean, surely there’s an innocent explanation!
On Tuesday night, Trump attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani disputed the idea that the recording shows that Trump knew about the McDougal deal.
“It doesn’t,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post. “That’s open to interpretation, and we can have a fight about that.”
“I don’t care if it means I will be served domestic champagne the next time I’m at a cocktail party at Martha’s Vineyard, I have to say that I find Mr. Guiliani’s explanation absolutely ironclad.” –Alan Dershowitz, on Fox News right now, probably. [UPDATE: certainly!]
Congrats to evangelical pastors Mark Burns and Darrell Scott for getting name-checked on the Trump-Cohen tape as people the campaign might "use" again in the future, as soon as Cohen paid hush money to Trump's Playboy model mistress.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 25, 2018